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My personal response to this is 'over my dead body'. There is no evidence that 'dead stock' on library shelves is composed of ex-best sellers. A lot of it was probably still-born when it was acquired. There are a lot of weasel words being employed to explain why the proposal is is not discrimination. I don't see how you can describe a service which favours those who can pay and disadvantages those who can't can be described as anything but discriminatory. Robert Gent -----Original Message----- From: George Kerr [SMTP:[log in to unmask]] Sent: 26 June 2000 13:09 To: [log in to unmask] Subject: Bestsellers Continuing our investigations into effective stock management in West Lothian, we are currently looking at the balance between excessive waiting lists and excessive duplication (thus creating future 'Dead stock') in the supply of Best selling items. I am interested in a service which is becoming increasingly popular in the United States - Best Seller rental. I am including with this posting, some comments from Bob Cannon, Director of Libraries in Charlotte, North Carolina, a very successful American library which provides the service. 'Like the UK, public library law in North Carolina states that once a public library is established, its services 'must be free'. No charges are allowed for library cards, issue of books, entrance or enquiries.' Also similar to the UK, this concept has been diluted over the years to exclude Videos, CD's etc and now in recent years 'Best sellers'. Charlotte City gives people a choice : they can wait for the best seller which the core service continues to provide free, or they can have it now, by renting from the library for 2 dollars for a 2 week loan. Some users do complain that this discriminates, but the library view is that this is an alternative service which merely provides best sellers faster for those who do not wish to wait. They never provide rental copies for any items which are not also available on free loan - you just have to wait longer for these. Items are leased from their regular book supplier (I know that some UK suppliers might be interested in the concept here) and after Charlotte are done with the books they are returned to the supplier who deals with them in their own way. Quote: 'We get no money out of this. The 2 dollars just about breaks even. We do not make a profit, not would we get away with that, I think.' The American Library Association do not appear to have a view on the service and it now appears to becoming adopted by an increasing number of US libraries. Director Bob Cannon also provides some interesting observations: 'Our reserve lists are now shorter, but we have also learned that we have created a new group of users: people who specifically come into the library to rent best sellers. There is of course, still a large group of regular borrowers who would just as soon wait for the book, rather than pay the rental fee. We just conducted another customer service survey. Guess what: one of our high complaint areas is ...'Not enough best sellers'. For steady, dedicated 'best seller' readers, our program has brought forth serious praise and serious customers. I have recommended our 'best seller' program to numerous libraries and librarians. I think it is important to capture the 'best seller' reader!' What I wonder is, could this concept be adopted into the British library environment? Would the legal interpretation be similar? How would our users view this? Does the LA have a view? I don't think it is the same as the Conservative government proposal of a few years ago - I think this was described as a 'Premium service', because, if my recollection is correct, this was based on the premise that ALL copies of best sellers would be rented for set period after publication, with no provision for alternative free access. I would welcome discussion on this topic, either on the list or personally. George Kerr Support Services Manager West Lothian Council Library Service %%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%